U-joint / rack and pinion problem / question

[sorcmasta]

ok ... u guys prob remember i was finding out how to get a rack ... i finally got a reman one from ebay .. and now we are having a problem getting the rack , the u-joint and the steering column all to connect ... the ujoint being connected to the rack barely gets in the firewall hole enough to rest on the hole ... i have to pull the connector from the steering column down to connect it to the ujoint .. barely having it connected .. whoever with that being done i can't tighten the steering column connector as it doesn't go in the groove of the steering column ... my questions ... has anyone had this problem before? i am also thinking maybe someone before me put in a ujoint for a powersteering car and .. is the powersteering ujoint smaller than the non-powersteering?

any help is much appreciated thanks

[freshtiva]

Here is a picture of the u-joint sticking through the firewall and the pinions distance from the u-joint. The rack isnt connected to the firewall yet in the pic. I know its a pain to try and reconnect the u-joint to the pinion when its under the rubber boot. I changed out my steering column for a tilt wheel column and dont recall having problems like you mention. Does your new rack match your old one ?



Another pic of it connected, if that helps any ?

[freshtiva]

Is this like your u-joint ?

[sorcmasta]

thanks for the pics ... now i know that i have one that is about 1/4" - 1/2" too short ... now to find someone that has one... my main question is ... how the hell did someone manage to get the wrong part like that and still manage to ghetto rig it to work?? lol